But Gaga, You Weren’t Born That Way

I don’t get it, I really don’t. I mean, I understand the general appeal of Lady Gaga, and I think that she has a good message, more or less. I also think she rips off her supposedly original sense of style, but if Madonna and David Bowie aren’t complaining, why should I? Her music is also not particularly original, in my opinion, but that’s not what I’m taking issue with. Basically I just don’t understand how Lady Gaga can proudly sing lyrics about loving yourself exactly as you were born – when she’s sporting facial implants on the album cover?

“Well, first of all,” she says, “they’re not prosthetics. They’re my bones.”

Okay, so when did the bones appear?

“They’ve always been inside of me, but I have been waiting for the right time to reveal to the universe who I truly am.”

Did she will them to come out for this album?

“They come out when I’m inspired.”

Is she worried that this new look will inspire other people to “grow” similar bones?

“We all have these bones!” she says tersely.

Another piece of the puzzle is revealed later in her interview:

“It’s artistic expression,” Gaga says. “It’s a performance-art piece. I have never, ever encouraged my fans or anyone to harm themselves, nor do I romanticize masochism. Body modification is part of the overarching analysis of ‘Born This Way.’ In the video, we use Rico, who is tattooed head to toe [including a skull on his face]. He was born that way. Although he wasn’t born with tattoos, it was his ultimate destiny to become the man he is today.”

So apparently God make Gaga with the ultimate goal of her realizing her true self as a woman who pretends to have a facial deformity. If I had an actual physical deformity, particularly on my face, I would be even less forgiving of her attitude than I currently am. It’s not hurting me personally, so I can’t muster up too much indignation, but the whole thing seems pretentious and holier-than-thou to me.

After all, if we’re comfortable saying that God’s intended destiny for some people is for them to permanently change their appearance and body – where does that end? On one hand, I can see this being comforting to someone who feels that they were born the wrong gender. The little boy who feels stuck inside a girl’s body can embrace the idea that God expects us to modify ourselves if necessary to our destiny. Where does that end, though? Couldn’t a conservative person use the same argument to suggest that God wants people to overcome their homosexuality, or change their skin color?

I suppose it comes down to me feeling like Lady Gaga is more about attention-whoring than anything else. I think that she does honestly care about her fans and their wellbeing, but I also think her primary concern is having as much attention on her as possible. How is it helping any of her fans – or herself – to pretend that she was born with magical inspiration bones in her face, that retract and protrude in correlation to her creativity? I take much more inspiration from people who are, well, who they were actually born as. I’m also on board with people who modify themselves however they prefer, and then are honest about it. I think we all deserve our privacy, so I’m not implying that anyone has an obligation explain themself to anyone else. But if you’re in the public arena, supposedly spreading a message about being confident and content…why would you lie about your fake face?